The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Switzerland breached Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to protect a woman from life-threatening violence inflicted by her partner.
The case involved a woman was abducted from her home in 2007 after ending her relationship. Over an 11-hour period, she was unlawfully detained, raped, and ill-treated by her former partner, who had a criminal record unknown to her at the time. The applicant contended that the Swiss authorities had failed to take sufficient preventative action despite having prior knowledge of the partner’s dangerous history.
The Court held that several domestic authorities were aware of the man’s background and the real and imminent threat he posed. One police officer, acting independently, had tried to warn the applicant, though legal constraints and limited information hindered the effort. The Court acknowledged that the applicant had not requested assistance or filed a complaint, attributing this to her lack of awareness of the true risk.
Critically, the Court found that this informational imbalance—where key facts known to authorities were not shared with the applicant—required enhanced vigilance by the state. It determined that the authorities failed to conduct a proper risk assessment or implement sufficient operational measures that might have changed the outcome or mitigated harm.
While the Court commended the police officer’s initiative, it found a lack of coordination between relevant services and deficiencies in the legal framework at the time. As a result, Switzerland was held to have failed in its positive obligation under Article 2 to protect the applicant’s life from foreseeable and preventable harm.
Click here to read the full judgment